ANNA’S CLEANSING ROUTINE

After seeing Amanda’s acne-free, clear complexion, I was eager to try out her new, slightly intensecleansing routine. Basically,you get your water as hot as you can (like burning your hands hot), and soak your face towel. Once you’ve lathered up your product (as I will get to momentarily), cover your face with the hot towel. Take three deep breaths. Relax. Find your inner zen. Then, rinse the towel, and repeat twice more. Finish off by either a) rinsing the remaining product with cold water, or b) rinse towel, scrub your face, then rinse the towel once more with cold water and apply to your face.

I usually look forward to washing my face at night– I mean my makeup usually feels pretty gross by then, plus I cringe at the thought of all the dirt that ends up of my face from just the air and my hands. Nonetheless, whether you wear makeup or not, cleansing before bed is SO important for clear, healthy skin. I use a makeup removing wipe on my cheeks, chin and forehead (only avoiding my eyes, they just sting too much) to get the majority of the product off. Then, I get any remaining foundation/concealer with coconut oil, lathering my face and neck for around 30 seconds (thanks for the idea, Joanna). And I know you’re probably thinking, like why would I want to spread oil on my face, that’s just asking for breakouts, well let me set the record straight. I have extremely oily (I mean it), acne-prone skin, and using coconut oil has not made me 1. breakout nor 2. made my skin more oily (heaven forbid). Plus, it’s like ah-mazing for your skin (along with these other oils). I’d like to think of it as like my all-natural (and much cheaper) dupe for those covet-worthy Shu Uemuera cleansing oils. I take it all off with the routine I listed above, ending off with option b. Now, you may think we’re done, but this is why I say this routine is slightly intense. I then wash my newly open pores with this Avene cleanser, going at it for around 45 seconds to a minute, rinsing with cold water. As you can imagine, I sleep well knowing my face is squeaky clean.

7 a.m. Wake up, turn on my tunes, dance around while laughing with my friends, this is a typical monday morning in my house. No. This is not a Clean and Clear commercial. No matter how long I’ve slept, the ring of my alarm pisses me off every morning. I trudge over to the sink and get the show on the road. With the same Avene cleanser, I get bubbly for around 45 seconds to a minute (still pretty angry that I’m awake and have to go to school). This is where I shake off my tired trance and, well, actually wake up. I follow the procedure I mentioned above, finishing with the a method (rinsing with cold water). I find scrubbing of any sorts leaves my skin quite red– not ideal for applying makeup.

Since following this deep cleansing routine, my skin has felt noticeably softer and while I am not acne-free (unlike lucky Amanda), I am not breaking out as much. Hey, I’ll take what I can get.